Rolen comes to "The Bank'

The former Philly slugger, and the rest of the Cardinals, are in town for three games.

May 04, 2004|By Ben Reese Of The Morning Call

Phillies fans, get your lungs limbered up.

The Cardinals are coming to town and that means Scott Rolen returns.

You remember Rolen, the former Phillies third baseman, the one who couldn't wait to get out of Philadelphia, the one who brought Placido Polanco, current minor-league pitcher Bud Smith and since-departed reliever Mike Timlin to the Phillies in a July 29, 2002, trade.

While with the Phillies, Rolen was usually considered a golden boy by the fans. He played the game the right way, not afraid to get dirty.

He had some good years, too. He led the team in quite a few offensive categories, especially in 1997 and '98 -- runs scored, total bases, home runs, RBIs, walks.

But then he was gone in acrimonious style, basically demanding to be traded to a "contender," because he wanted to play in the playoffs and a World Series, something the Phillies didn't get close to in his seasons here.

And, every time he returned to Veterans Stadium, he was greeted with the fans' traditional welcome -- boos.

The less-than-warm welcome is something that Rolen doesn't like.

"That's a situation between Scotty and the fans," Phillies manager Larry Bowa said, when asked about the booing. I think [the fans] will [get past the stage where they feel they have to boo Rolen]."

Since going to St. Louis, Rolen has put up some impressive numbers. He hit .278 for the Cards in 2002 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs. That gave him a combined average of .266 with 31 homers and 110 RBIs.

Last season, his first full year with the Cardinals, he hit .286 with 28 home runs and drove in 104 runs.

Those numbers would have looked nice in Philly. But instead, the Phillies had Polanco for the final months of 2002 and an injured David Bell last season.

None of which helps the fans understand Rolen's "get me out of here" attitude in 2002.

Is there any forgiveness there?

"No, goodness no," said Doug Glanville, who played in Philadelphia with Rolen for five seasons. "From Philly fans, no."

Why not?

"They know the game," he said. "They know the history. They wanted him to stay here. Now he's the enemy."

Will it ever end?

"I don't put it past [the fams] to remember for a long time," Glanville said.

Randy Wolf benefitted from Rolen's offense and defense from 21/2 seasons. He knows what the fans' response will be.